Funacres' post below made me think............when you are at a family member's home for a meal....holiday or otherwise.....what happens if something that's served is just almost not edible? I don't mean they served brussels sprouts and everyone knows you detest brussels sprouts.....more in the vein of a new dish or new recipe and whether it turned out like it was supposed to or not, you just hate the thing. Do you joke about it? Try to eat it and gag it down? Push it around on your plate so it looks half-eaten? I would guess most (maybe I'm wrong) people would handle it differently at a family meal than at a friend's home. In this house, if I'd fixed the dish, I'd try it and be the first one to acknowledge that it wasn't up to snuff. That takes the pressure off the others and then it's a free-for-all. I don't get my feelings hurt easily, so it works for us. Granted, in general you're not supposed to try new recipes out on company, but stuff happens. What does your family do?